


Straying from the Norm

by agentlukaofshield (lukadarkwater)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, Era, F/M, Fluff, Sci-Ops, Team Engineering Leo Fitz Birthday Celebration, because the timeline is dumb, but also sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 14:18:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7761157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukadarkwater/pseuds/agentlukaofshield
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma surprises Fitz with a trip to the Royal Air Force Museum in London for his 20th Birthday. Written as a part of Team Engineering's celebration for Fitz's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Straying from the Norm

The last thing Fitz expected to see when he answered the door to his Mother’s home on an altogether much too early August morning was Jemma Simmons.

After graduating from the Academy that Spring, they had each gone back to their parents’ homes for the summer before they were set to go back to America in the fall. Though they had kept in close contact through e-mails, phone calls, and the long letters that Jemma was fond of sending him (his own responses were far less impressive, mostly consisting of drawings of new ideas he had and some notes and comments scribbled in the margins ), Jemma had not responded to his last e-mail and he had been getting worried about her.

However, as she stood before him smiling at his rumpled curls and Star Wars print pajama pants, before throwing herself at him on the steps of his house, all those worries vanished.

“Happy 20th Birthday, Fitz!” she exclaimed, her arms wrapped tight around his neck while he struggled to fight off the last bit of confusion that being woken up so early had left in his mind.

“Um, hi, Jemma?” he finally managed, stepping back from her slightly suffocating hug, “What are you doing here? We aren’t flying back till Wednesday, right?” he asked, racking his brain to figure out if he had his dates wrong and if he should be hurriedly throwing things in his suitcase now rather than in two days like he had planned to do. 

“Well yes, but I wanted to come up and surprise you for your birthday! You only turn 20 once, you know,”

That caught Fitz off guard. Though he and Jemma had been friends now for years, it was still strange that someone outside of his mum knew and cared about his birthday. Before he had met Jemma, his birthdays had mostly consisted of his mum making him whatever food he wanted and letting him break apart - and put together again thank you very much - one of their household appliances.

The first time his birthday had rolled around once they had become friends, he had been quite content to continue that tradition--though the lack of his mother’s cooking was troubling to him. Jemma, however, had found that ritual much too boring and had set about to properly celebrate his special day every year, and it seemed this year was to be no different. 

Fitz rolled his eyes slightly, “Yes, but technically you only turn each age once, 20 isn’t anything special. I’m pretty sure 21 is the big birthday, according to the US’s culture anyway.”

Jemma huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, “Yes, but this means you’ve been alive for two decades! Isn’t that exciting?”

“I suppose, but it would be more exciting to not have to see the bloody sunrise on the day that I turn that old”, he grumbled, “Why are you here so early anyway? I don’t even think Mum is up.”

Jemma’s pout instantly turned into a smile and she whipped out a sheet of paper from her bag, “The reason I’m here so early is because we’ve got a big day ahead of us, so go get dressed. We’ve got a train to catch!”

Several hours and at least three scones later - “Train food is the worst Jemma, those scones are tiny” - Fitz stood slack jawed in front of one of the places that he had always wanted to visit as a child. 

The Royal Air Force Museum of London stood before them and he was already staring with fascination at some of the planes that were dotted around the parking lot. He had always been intrigued by the idea of creating something that defied the laws of gravity and, now that his literal job was to make such things, his love for the planes that had paved the way to where they were now had only grown. 

“Surprise!” Jemma said, standing beside him with an eager smile on her face.

“Jemma, this is awesome!” Fitz examined, not even caring about the childish excitement that was clear in his voice, “But how did you - I mean why -”

Jemma laughed, “Oh come on Fitz, you’ve always had a thing for planes and you were going on and on for ages about how interesting the planes used in World War One are after we watched that documentary this year. Also, I may have asked your mum if you’d ever been to this museum a couple of weeks ago,” her smile turned fond “She told me that you’ve always wanted to go but you guys never found the time.”

Fitz turned to her, a faux pout on his lips, “You two were conspiring behind my back? I should have known.”

Jemma rolled her eyes and reached out to tug him forwards “Oh please, as if you aren’t super excited to go in. You know, they even have a model of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet, or so I’ve heard.”

That caught Fitz’s attention and then he was the one grabbing Jemma’s hand and pulling her in through the doors, already chattering her ears off about the marvel that was one of the newest fighter jets; he missed Jemma’s smile as they passed through the entry way. 

The rest of the day was spent with him dragging her through every single one of the exhibit halls, reading all of the plaques and informational signs carefully, as he rattled off facts about how the early fighter jets were much too slow for modern combat and how their bombs had only 1/10 of the fire power that they were capable of making in the current models.

Jemma was quite happy to let him chatter away, cutting in every now and again with her own observations and ideas and Fitz lost track of time until the voice over the loudspeakers informed them that the museum would be closing in less than fifteen minutes. 

As they made their way back to Glasgow that evening - Jemma having already arranged to fly back to the States from there with him in a few days- he grabbed his notebook from his bag and began eagerly mapping out some of the ideas he had had during the day. It wasn’t until he felt a warm weight settle on his shoulder that he realized Jemma had fallen asleep. 

Reaching over carefully, he turned off her overhead light before returning back to his sketch. He smiled as he drew, listening to Jemma’s soft snores against his shirt. Though he had been the one complaining that morning about getting up early, he had forgotten that Jemma would have had to be up much earlier to travel to his house and he felt a rush of affection for her. Maybe spending birthdays her way wasn’t so bad after all, even if it meant he did miss his mum’s cooking.

**Author's Note:**

> My brother is an engineer who works at an aerospace company so I have a great fondness for nerds freaking out about aviation.
> 
> Anyway, here's my take on Fitz's 20th birthday!


End file.
